


Lightning Narcissist

by loveladytime



Category: Ghost Hunt
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, F/M, Fantasy, Friendship, Mage AU, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-21
Updated: 2018-04-21
Packaged: 2019-04-25 22:55:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14388831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loveladytime/pseuds/loveladytime
Summary: Mai Taniyama along with her teammates is given a top secret mission to infiltrate 'Firefly', a secret organization formed by the most wanted major villains. In a middle of a life and death situation, she encounters a breathtakingly handsome but rude and unforgiving villain. [A Mage AU] A world where terrible encounters can also lead to wonderful beginnings.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have additional notes at the end of the chapter. Thank you in advance for giving time to check this! Enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Ghost Hunt or any of its characters. The only thing I own here is the plot.

**Chapter 1**

"Kuroda-san was followed. The mages assigned to this city are now trying to catch up with me. Is the key ready, Lin?" Noll said while heading hurriedly to an alley. He gripped his phone closer to his ear.

 

 "I'm headed your way, Noll. Make sure you don't leave a trace. We'll have to turn our phones off in two minutes to prevent them from tracking us. Try to summon a storm. I'm almost done recharging the teleportation key."

 

Noll raised his right hand and focused his energy on creating a storm. Dark clouds started to cover the city's sky and emitted a few lightning bolts. The rain immediately fell and a thick mist started to form and spread throughout the city. Lin was concentrating all his energy to recharge the key he was holding, neglecting the consequences of draining his life force to open a portal that would directly lead them to Asago. As the rain started to get into his eyes while making his way to Noll, he adjusted the hood of his waterproof coat and placed his phone inside his pocket after turning it off. Soon, he started to see Noll from afar.

 

"I got all we need. We should reach Asago before sunset. Is the key ready?" Noll said as he met his assistant after a few steps. He was staring impatiently at Lin.

 

 "Yes." Lin placed the key in an invisible keyhole and opened a door out of nowhere. Lin went inside it with Noll following behind him.

 

...

 

Mai immediately went to the cube tower once she received news from the headquarters that their team is being summoned for a new mission. Fortunately, she had at least eight hours of sleep today and ate a heavy breakfast so she is more than ready for her new mission of the month. She wondered though if her teammates had enough rest after the short celebration of Takigawa-sensei's birthday yesterday. She hope they did since they will be having a top secret S-Rank mission today.

 

Mai is considered as one of the most highly skilled mages in the city and has accepted several A-Rank to S-Rank missions for the past three years. She successfully completes each of her missions without any problems, though at times she would still feel wary because any minute during their mission could just lead them to their very death. How sad is it to think that any conversation of the day could just be her last. That is why the great mischievous Mai Taniyama makes sure to live her life to the fullest. If she could just choose, she would want her death to be as peaceful as possible, but she’s aware that the chances of her death-wish is close to impossible since every mage sent to their mission knows for a fact that their lives are always at stake. She already knew that the moment she officially started her first mission a few years ago.

 

 "You’ve got to be kidding me. I woke up early so I could still ask Takigawa-sensei about their last mission. What happened to my precious time? god, why is time so fleeting!" Blame it on her wandering mind this morning. Mai always had that terrible habit of daydreaming too much. She sighed as she hurried while entering the silver gates of Cube Tower II.

 

 "Masako, Yasuhara!" Mai called as she saw Masako talking to Yasuhara when she entered the hallway leading to the main room.

 

 "You're late," Masako glared at her while tapping her foot impatiently.

 

 "Hey! I'm not yet late! I'm just in time. See?" Mai pointed at her watch showing 'seven o'clock'.

"What did I tell you about allotting at least fifteen minutes in every meet-up? What if you pass by some errand or whatever trouble you might get yourself into along the way here?" Masako sighed as she walked into the meeting room and settled herself to sit on one of the chairs to wait for their sensei.

 

 "Looks like she's still mad from yesterday's teasing, huh? That's why I told you not to overdo it." Mai sighed indignantly as she walked alongside Yasuhara.

 

 "Well, you know what? I can't help it. She looks adorable with those glaring eyes." Yasuhara slightly chuckled as he sat beside Masako. Mai settled in her own seat and waited with her teammates.

 

 They did not wait for long as the door opened a few minutes after they sat. Takigawa settled on his seat and started to open the folder he was holding. "Did you guys get enough rest?"

 

 "Yes," the three of them said in unison.

 

 "Good. Because after I explain everything and complete the things we need, we'll head straight to our mission," said Takigawa while opening the first page of the document.

 

 "We found a lead from one of the people we caught the other day. Her name is Kuroda Naoko. She's one of Firefly's fronts pretending to be a wine vendor at the market. We saw her talking to a hooded guy before she was caught. We lost the guy, but was last seen at Tokyo Midtown," Takigawa started still looking at the document he was holding.

 

 "We expected that the weather would be fine that day, but a storm surprisingly appeared the moment we chased him. We were suspecting he summoned it along with the mist that covered the entire city to make it harder for us to catch up with him," Takigawa added.

 

 "This is going to be a long day." Yasuhara sighed.

 

 "Now, our Intel team was able to extract a few vital information from reading Kuroda-san's memories. The hooded guy she spoke to is currently unknown since he was also wearing a mask during their last conversation. Based on their exchange of words, we expect him to head to Takeda Castle in Asago."

 

 Takigawa explained the rest of the things the three needed to know and laid the mission plan. They departed around afternoon for their mission and took the train from Tokyo Station.

 

 "Mai, have you brought some of those antidotes you've made from our last mission? I'm pretty sure the same poison that was used to injure one of our mages will still be used by most of Firefly's members," Takigawa asked while reading a report from the medic team.

 

 "Yes, I did. I hope they don't use a new poison though since that would be a big problem for us. If I had not been sent to that backup team before, Keiko would have been killed from their mission. It was a matter of hours before the poison kicks in and kills someone. Thank god, no one was killed from the ambush," Mai said as she was searching through her bag to check all the medicines and antidotes needed.

 

 "I hope she's doing fine now. She saved so many children from the evacuation site and sacrificed her life to save everyone," Yasuhara said, his brows furrowed.

 

 "I have successfully updated the medical system and added any needed information about the new poison from the incident. I also made as many antidotes as I can in case of any future attacks," Mai said, concern lacing her voice. Masako held her hand and gave a slight squeeze to it to comfort the girl. Keiko had been Mai's closest friend when they were still in the Academy.

 

 "Let's do our best and give it all to this mission. We can do this as long as we're together and apply what we have learned and practiced from all the missions and training we had." Yasuhara encouraged his team to keep a positive atmosphere.

 

 "Yes!" said the rest in unison.

 

 Each of them took turns on having a nap during the five hour journey to Asago. Soon, they reached their destination in the evening. Once they got out of the train, they searched for a place to take a short break before continuing again.

 

"I brought us dinner and melon bread. Let's take a quick break, guys!" Mai opened her bag and took out well-prepared bentos and started preparing the food. They all ate in silence and chatted for a while after eating. Takigawa made sure no one would hear what they were talking about the moment they left the Cube Tower by casting a curtain barrier around them. They have a few more minutes left before the spell wears off. They used the remaining minutes to talk about how they are going to enter their target location and the precautions they need to add to prevent casualties. After finalizing their backup plans, they continued with their mission.

 

 "We have to be really careful this time. One of Firefly's hideouts could be around this area. So it means that they are more familiar with the place and can easily dispatch us. Have you studied the map I gave you yesterday?" Takigawa asked.

 

 "We did. We even thought of where to go in case our plan blows. Hopefully, everything works the way we planned," Yasuhara answered with a serious tone.

 

 Mai had a bad feeling about this place. She could feel the cold wind brush her skin and somehow it made her shiver. She did not know why she can't get used to with all these missions. She just can't help herself to feel extremely conscious with every move they make. They roamed the area for the next few hours until it reached midnight.

 

 "Masako, you think you can check everything from above without being noticed?" Mai asked while checking their surroundings. Masako nodded in response and took out something from her bag. She wore her invisible cloak and started to cast a wind spell.

 

 "Mai, make sure you guys stay together. We don't know what we are up against especially that we are in their lair so it'll be better if we stay unnoticed as much as possible," Masako said, uneasiness lacing her voice.

 

 "I understand. Please, be careful," Mai said as Masako flew and disappeared into the dark sky of the city.

…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Additional Notes:
> 
> Curtain Barrier - an invisible anti-spy barrier.
> 
> Team Takigawa Mage Group -  
> Takigawa - A Class (---)  
> Yasuhara - A Class (---)  
> Mai - B Class (---)  
> Masako - B Class (Expert of Aerokinesis - Wind Manipulation)
> 
> Mage Group (Disclaimer: I do not own the terms I used to classify the mage groups in this story. It is solely from the anime “One Punch Man”, though my characters are mages not superheroes. So, in case you find it similar as to how their mage groups are called in One Punch Man, yes, I got it from that amazing anime) -
> 
> S Class - Highest mage rank one can attain (a genius & highly skilled)  
> A Class - Master of Magick & Kinesis (considered highly skilled)  
> B Class - Expert/Senior (considered highly skilled)  
> C Class - Intermediate/Experienced  
> D Class - Novice/Fresh Graduates
> 
> Mission ranks (Disclaimer: I do not own the terms I used to classify the mission ranks in this story. It is solely from the anime “Naruto”, though this fanfic story is a mage AU not a shinobi/ninja AU. So, in case you find it similar as to how their mission ranks are called in Naruto, yes, I got it from that amazing anime) -
> 
> S Rank - assigned to an S-Class, A-Class, or a group of B-Class mages. It is also the highest paying and most dangerous type of mission a mage can go on.  
> A Rank - assigned to S Class, A Class or B Class mages.  
> B Rank - assigned to A Class, B Class or C Class mages.  
> C Rank - assigned to C Class or D Class mages. They are missions with little to no chance of combat against other mages.  
> D Rank - assigned to mages fresh from the Academy. They pose almost no risk to the mage's life and usually consist of odd jobs like farming and babysitting work.
> 
> …
> 
> Thank you for reading!  
> Love, Lady Time


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys! I have additional notes at the end of the chapter. Enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Ghost Hunt or any of its characters. The only thing I own here is the plot.

**Chapter 2**

 

"Noll, we have a problem." Lin entered the room.

 

"You have to stop calling me that," Noll said not looking up from his book.

 

"They were able to catch up with us," Lin said.

 

Noll closed the book he was reading and turned his attention to Lin.

 

"They’re all under an illusion. They won't be able to sense any of us for the next few hours until we attack them," Noll said.

 

Lin stared at Noll, listening.

 

"We need to at least separate them from each other to make the job easier. Madoka lent me this book that has some of those immobilizing spells. I had Cleo set up the lamps that would temporarily disable their elemental abilities," Noll stated.

 

"It's not part of the plan to—" Lin was cut off.

 

"Cleo mentioned that there are four of them," Noll interjected.

 

"Yes. Two of them are in fact Tokyo branch's A-Class mages so it won't be easy to dispatch all of them."

 

"Specifications?" Noll asked.

 

"Takigawa Houshou, A-Class Pyrokinesis user, and master of sealing and kekkai magick. Yasuhara Osamu, A-Class Mentokinesis user and master of teleportation magick."

 

"How about the other two?" Noll seemed unaffected by it.

 

"B-Class mages. Hara Masako, Aerokinesis user—"

 

"Meoooowww...." Cleo entered the room, interrupting Lin and Noll from their conversation.

 

_'Everything is set. One of them is inspecting the area from above and the other three are at the east gate. All the lamps with the immobilizing spells were set perfectly at each gate.'_

 

_'Very well.'_

 

The black ragdoll cat jumped and sat on Noll's lap. Noll stroked Cleo's back and continued with his and Lin's conversation. Lin somehow always felt uncomfortable when Noll and his cat would talk telepathically, leaving him always clueless as to what they are saying or talking about.

 

"One of them is inspecting the area from above and the other three are already at the east gate," Noll stated still petting Cleo. "Handle the A-Class Pyrokinesis user and B-Class Aerokinesis user. I'll handle the Mentokinesis user to somehow entertain myself. I'll probably dispatch the other B-Class mage first to prevent any interruption. Once you reach the east gate, transport the two to the west where I'll be heading." Noll carefully carried Cleo and stood from his chair.

 

Lin nodded in response. Before leaving, he gave Noll a cookie. Noll looked at the cookie and raised an eyebrow before looking back at Lin.

 

"Bring this with you in case you need me there. I will immediately be sent to your location if you break the cookie," Lin said and left the room.

 

...

 

"The area is extremely quiet. It's starting to bother me," Mai admitted.

 

"We're not getting anywhere. We already went past that fountain and this is probably the seventh time seeing the exact set of statues if you ask me. Notice that crack on the edge of the lion's head?" Yasuhara pointed to a crack in the statue. "It can't be possible for all seven lion statues we keep passing by to have the same crack in the same place," Yasuhara said.

 

"I'm suspecting we are already under their illusion the reason we can't sense any of their energies," Takigawa said. "If you noticed, once we got out of the train, everything seemed off starting from the lack of crowd and even lack of any living energy at all. It just felt empty. As if we're the only living creatures in the city."

 

They suddenly heard a gushing sound from the trees around them. As if on queue, Mai suddenly dodged an attack from an unknown animal who came from behind her who tried to stab its claws on her. Takigawa and Yasuhara also dodged a few several white flames thrown at them.

 

Three black hyenas with piercing amber eyes and sharp teeth appeared before them. They were around ten feet tall with strong packed limbs.

 

"Be careful, guys. These hyenas are complex beings and can easily predict any attacks from us. Look at their eyes. The golden star symbol just beside their pupils signifies they are of the royal type which means they have special vision abilities though I don't recognize as to what type it is," Takigawa said.

 

Takigawa lifted his wand and cast a kekkai barrier spell around them as a defense in case one of the hyenas starts to attack. "I'll start by placing kekkais on their limbs to hold them. Mai, immobilize them with your crystalline coat, Yasuhara try if you can control their psyche and inflict damage mentally first. I'll focus the damage on their eyes since that's their weakness."

 

"Yes!" said the two in unison. The two spread out and went on their side of the barrier and they started with Takigawa casting barrier spells on the hyena's limbs to keep them on place. Mai prepared her ice crystal spell when suddenly the hyenas quickly dodged Takigawa's kekkais. They moved so fast that the three failed to even see how they avoided the box-shaped barriers forming on their limbs.

 

"They're fast," Takigawa said. One of the hyenas pounced angrily on the kekkai's wall in front of Mai.

 

Mai started to cast an ice beam to slow down their movements when suddenly she felt a pang of pain on both her palms. She yelped and felt her body freeze. Every shock on her hands sent ripples of pain through her shoulder, back, and neck.

 

"Mai-chan, are you okay?" Takigawa saw Mai drop her wand and fell to her knees. Takigawa ran to her and supported her before she falls completely on the floor. She suddenly felt awful and weak.

 

"I-I can't move." Mai was stuttering. She turned pale and her body temperature was dropping rapidly. She felt dizzy and felt as if her energy was leaking out her somewhere. Takigawa checked her pulse and felt her heartbeat weakening. Mai concentrated and tried blocking as to what is absorbing her energy.

 

"I-I'll be fine. Thank you, sensei. Please, get back to casting the kekkais. I'll try if I can slow down their movements." Mai who was still trembling, smiled slightly to prevent him from worrying. Her hands were freezing cold. She suddenly felt numb, but soon, she started regaining her strength. She was slowly regenerating her energy.

 

"Don't push it too much," Takigawa said still supporting Mai on her feet.

 

Mai nodded in response and slowly stood. Takigawa turned to Yasuhara and saw him already under a mental spell with his eyes closed.

 

Takigawa went to his side of the barrier and focused on attacking the hyena in front of him. The hyenas are now trying to break the barrier they were in, pouncing on every side of the kekkai that was shielding them. They were running around so fast almost in a zigzag pattern, making it difficult for Takigawa to catch them. Mai tried to cast an ice spell again directing it to the hyena on her side. She once again failed miserably and felt the same pang of pain on both of her palms. She cried and tried to rub her palms on her clothes or anywhere on her skin. The feeling of burning was unbearable. It was too painful she couldn't think properly. She tried to endure the pain and stood steady on her feet. Pain sheeted through her with a terrible intensity.

 

"Mai, are you okay?!" Takigawa almost yelled as he was now facing his own hyena on his side. He caught one of them with a kekkai, covering its limbs. He tried to cast longer and sharp-edged kekkais to stab the hyena. He successfully stabbed it and tried to trap it with one of his sealing spells. Despite it being wounded, Takigawa failed to seal it with one of his spells due to its speed.

 

"Y-Yes. I'll be fine. Please, don't worry too much." Mai was trying to suppress a cry from the pain that was starting to fade.

 

White flames started to blast out from the biggest hyena and hit the middle side of the barrier, where Yasuhara was standing. A crack started to appear and Takigawa grunted. Takigawa cast a fire arrow but suddenly felt the same pain as Mai felt. A loud grunt escaped his lips and dropped his wand. He tried his best to stand still but failed miserably and fell to his knees. He made a low growl again, straining to stand up to the pain.

 

"Takigawa-sensei!" Mai cried. She wanted to run to his side but she was still recovering from her own pain.

 

"I think something is preventing us from casting some of our spells," Takigawa exclaimed.

 

Mai used her last resort and charged her energy from her hands. She focused it entirely on her left hand until a couple of snowflake marks appeared on her fingers up to her elbow. Her regeneration flakes are now activated, enabling her to boost her strength and quickly regenerate any damage her body might receive. She tried to heal Takigawa even with the distance they have and tried sensing where the object that was disabling their elemental abilities is coming from. She couldn't find anything unusual in the area.

_Statues_ , _fountain_ , _water_ , _trees_ , _pots_ , _lamps_. _There are just too many of them and I can't sense a thing_. Mai was now grunting under her breath.

 

"Come on, Yasuhara. Make it faster. What is taking him so long?" Mai was now healed completely. And took out her dual blades. "If we can't use any elemental spells then we probably have to do it the hard way."

 

The barrier shattered at the final blast attack from the biggest hyena. The hyena was about to attack Takigawa when Mai suddenly met the beast and sliced its front limbs with her dual blades. The hyena cried in pain.

 

"We can't use any elemental spells. We have to find the spell blocker first before casting any to avoid draining our energies." Mai was helping Takigawa to his feet until he was healed and recharged completely.

 

They saw the hyena's limbs regenerate and made a move to attack again. It was now headed Yasuhara who was still in his current spell.

 

"Mai, guard Yasuhara until he breaks the programmed systems of these damn beasts. Just stand at my back as a support healer in case everything gets worse. I'll try to distract them with my kekkais while Yasuhara is on it," Takigawa said.

 

"Roger!" Mai carried Yasuhara and tried to get on a higher place by climbing one of the big pine trees. Takigawa trapped the hyenas who was after Mai and Yasuhara with a big kekkai and commanded 'Metsu' to collapse the kekkai and destroy the beasts inside. The barrier exploded, creating a thick smoke from where it collapsed.

 

Takigawa waited, not letting his guard down. He felt a strong gush of wind hit him following the three hyenas who was headed his way once the smoke dissolved.

 

"No way!" Takigawa cast another kekkai to defend himself. "It didn't even inflict much damage on them." He pulled out three back-up slow tags from his pocket and threw each on the beasts to slow down their movements. He repeated the same spell and focused it on its limbs to hold them in place. Once caught, he cast another big one to trap all of them again.

 

_It's so dark and cold._ Yasuhara was in the middle of nowhere.

 

It was in a dark empty plane. He heard water dripping from somewhere and carefully ran to where the sound was coming from. An island of white sharp gems stood in front of him on which his eyes had slightly widened. He positioned himself in a defensive stance, bending his knee slightly in case an attack occurs.

_What on earth..._ he thought. He stared and studied the structure of the gem and looked up. It was overwhelming. He felt as if it can swallow him anytime.

 

_This is my first time seeing something like this_. He concentrated and tried to shake away the building fear. He tried to find and look for something unusual.

 

_Where could the force systems be?_ He roamed the area and entered the temple. He found six glowing orbs from afar. One was at the high edge of the gem temple. Second, on the far side of the east. Third, on the west. Fourth, on the north. Fifth one is seven feet below the ground, exactly on where he was standing. And lastly, the sixth was located at the rooftop. These six orbs are the speed force, strength force, knowledge force, regenerating force, booster force, and finally, the life force.

 

"I'm running out of time." Yasuhara was staring at his spell time meter. "Six minutes, damn." He went as fast as he could and analyzed every gibberish writings and barriers shielding the forces. "This is even worse than the Mariana's web."

 

He carefully watched out for any traps that might be hidden somewhere and concentrated with every force he was facing. He cautiously decoded each stepping stones to get to each light forces and turned them all off with haste as he is running out of time.

 

The hyenas suddenly growled. They fell to the ground and rolled in pain.

 

"Good job, Shounen!" Takigawa was now smiling widely as he can see the beasts suffering inside his barrier. The beasts started to shrink around six feet tall. Still big but is way much better than before. Their speed decreased and they looked like normal beasts now. Whatever Yasuhara did there, it definitely worked.

 

Takigawa cast several long, big and sharp-edged kekkais and hit all three of the beasts with it. They growled in pain and looked completely helpless on the ground. He sealed all three of them successfully.

 

Yasuhara successfully shut down all the systems and double checked all of them in case of any rebound. After making sure everything was done, he left the temple gate. As he was running through the same path he took a while ago, he was already so close to the reality gate, when suddenly he stepped on one of the gems. It moved so quickly that it was too late for him to avoid or dodge the attack as several gem vines wrapped itself around his legs, immobilizing him. A large shard of gem stabbed itself directly at his chest, penetrating all the way out to his back. He yelped in pain, followed by guttural chokes mixed with an agonized roar. The cascade of his life source gushed out in all directions, scarlet liquid squirting up all over the place. His skin was tearing to shreds as the gem moved, the sound of his muscles and nerves being gouged growing louder. He couldn't move. Everything went too fast. Seconds passed and he can now feel the wave of searing pain. He could taste iron in his mouth. He felt himself choke and drown from his own blood. He tried to cough the blood out since he couldn't breathe. He was convulsing and trembling like a rabid animal as thick blood flowed freely from the stab on his chest.

 

_I can't die just yet,_ He thought to himself. _I can't_. He felt so mad at himself for not being careful enough. He had promised himself he would successfully finish this mission. He would go back to their city and continue fighting for dear life. He promised himself he would put an end to Firefly's vision of destroying the world. It was exactly ten years ago when his mother was killed during a mission. He could still remember the look on his father's face the day he came from work to announce the terrible news. He was devastated. Their father was always busy with the council. They would only see him once a week since he was being sent outside the city most of the time. His mother, however, tried her best to always stay at home and look after them when she wasn't on a mission. She would always cook their favorite meals and would even go as far as teaching him not just every family spells and expertise they had but also all their family dishes. Firefly, a secret organization formed by the most wanted major villains, has mercilessly killed his mother's team during a sunny afternoon in Hiroshima. At that very moment, a big part of him shattered into pieces. He won't be able to see her smile or cook anymore.

_Maybe fate was unfair after all_ , he thought. He won't be able to forgive himself if he failed to at least contribute something in putting an end to Firefly. He can feel his energy being sucked out from him. His vision was now starting to blur until darkness overcame him.

 

Mai suddenly heard Yasuhara yelp. He was choking and was now grunting continuously in pain. Blood trickled enormously from Yasuhara's chest and back.

 

"Shit!" Mai was now trying to lie Yasuhara flat on his back and started to remove his upper clothing. "Yasuhara! Wake up! Yasuhara!" Sweat poured down from Yasuhara, his face full of pain. Mai tried to wake him up and shook him. She studied the wound on his chest. _How is this even possible through the mental plane?_ Mai was now trying to release her healing energy on his chest but his wound continued to bleed. His temperature was dropping rapidly. "Yasuhara, stay with us! Yasuhara!" Mai was trying hard not to panic. She was now puzzled as to why his wound was not healing. This was a rare case and she can remember a certain case like this way back in the medic department when she was at her last year in the academy. Mai placed both her hand on his chest and put a pressure on it. If she doesn't do anything faster, they're gonna lose him.

 

"M-Ma..." Yasuhara was trying to speak. He was choking and was coughing blood. His body hurt too much. It seemed that everything hurt too much. Slowly, his sense started to send reports back to his brain. There were bruises and cuts and scrapes and maybe some breaks. He kept his eyes closed, not because he didn’t want to see where he was, but he thought it would hurt too much to open them.

 

"Don't talk! You have to reserve your remaining energy!" Mai was now yelling at him. Yasuhara's eyes are starting to lose its color when Mai tried to open them to check. Mai didn't notice the tears that were now leaking out her eyes. Yasuhara had been one of her most trusted and precious friends. She can't lose one again. Not again. Not on her watch. "Stay with us, please. Stay with us." Her hands were trembling and tears continued to flow on her cheeks.

 

She took her medic spectacles from her pocket and wore them to magnify and see through specific parts of his chest. She tried to calm herself and focus on analyzing the pattern of cuts on his tissues. His pericardium membranes surrounding the heart and lungs are severely damaged and are in places. She will need to heal him part by part internally to regenerate his cells properly. Mai took three blood pills from her pouch and carefully placed it on Yasuhara's mouth. She put her finger and carefully pushed each pill on his throat for him to swallow. With all the blood he is losing, she can't waste any minute or else they'll lose him completely.

 

"Yasuhara, stay with us. Please." Mai placed her index finger on his forehead and tried to open the gates of the mental plane to heal the damage through his psyche. She successfully reached the mental plane and gasped at the image in front of her. She could practically see a large shard of white gem penetrating Yasuhara's chest.

 

_How could something like this possibly happen?_ Yasuhara was held by several gem vines, intertwined on both his arms and legs. Mai saw a sealing tag on the gem's body. "No wonder his cells aren't healing. This is designed to kill every cell on his body in a short period of time." Mai dispelled the sealing tag. The gems started to dissolve and Mai caught Yasuhara before he falls to the ground. Mai was now covered in blood as more blood trickled out from him. She carried him out to the reality gate.

 

Mai gasped as she returned to the physical world. She focused her healing energy on rebuilding his apex, to his left and right ventricle, coronary sinus, arteries, cardiac veins, etc. After the heart, she focused next on his lungs. His upper body was a mess but at least there was a progress now on healing his organs.

 

"Yasuhara, fight it, please. Don't drift away. Yasuhara! You still owe us that buffet treat you promised us!" Mai was trying to exert more pressure on his chest to prevent more blood from dripping out.

 

...

 

Lin quickly headed to the east. He can no longer sense the presence of his hyenas. He hurried and chose the back route, passing through the pine trees. He can sense two energies nearing as he quietly jumped on the branches. Lin smiled slightly as he saw the two mages he was supposed to send to the west. At least he didn't have to waste his time to look for them anymore.

_Perfect timing_. He prepared his spear to attack. In a flash of light, he suddenly appeared and tried to slash Mai's arms with his spear but failed since Mai was able to block it with one of her dual blades. He kicked her and she grunted as she got hit on her side. She quickly grabbed his arm and tried to stab him in his lower back but was once again hit on her face. She felt dizzy with the strong impact of his fist hitting her directly on her cheek. He quickly placed the bone necklace on her and Yasuhara's neck who was now leaning on the trunk of the tree. He cast a teleportation spell sending her and Yasuhara into a whirlpool of unknown darkness.

 

...

 

Mai woke up to the sound of rain pouring. She can't see a thing. It was pitch black dark. She bolted from the ground, realizing she was healing Yasuhara just a few moments ago before someone attacked her. Off in the distance, she can hear the soft rumble of thunder.

 

"I never would have thought that Tokyo's B or even A-Class mages would be this weak." A cold and condescending voice said just a few meters away. She could not make out what he said.

 

She tried to find where the voice came from. Lighting struck from the distant sky, its light illuminating her surroundings. She saw a figure of a man about a few meters away from her, standing with those blue piercing eyes. Consecutive lightning struck from afar, and she was now able to make out the appearance of the person talking a while ago. She stared at the breathtakingly handsome and tall young man walking closer to her. His slick raven hair and pale skin making him look more attractive. It felt like time was slowing down. What was wrong with her? Was she being hypnotized? She swallowed as she felt her heart beat fast. For some strange unknown reasons, the lightning and thunder sounds from the background sounded perfect to her ears. It matched his all-black clothing and enigmatic presence.

 

_His eyes didn’t have the slightest emotion. It’s empty_. His stare is making her knees go weak. He had those cold eyes that seemed to look deep into her soul. Mai didn't realize she was holding her breath. She tried to shake the idea out of her mind, scolding herself. What the hell was she thinking? She was in a middle of a life and death situation for god's sake and she was thinking of these absurd things. He stopped after a few steps. She became cautious and tried to look at her surroundings, making sure not to lose sight of the man in front of him. She had to find Yasuhara fast. She did not even know how long they passed out. It could be too late for her if she doesn't hurry.

 

"Kneel," said the man in front of her.

 

Before she could even understand what he said, she fell to her knees, kneeling in front of him. She grunted as her knees hit the cold concrete floor. She could feel the necklace on her neck quiver, burning on her skin. She cried at the burning pain in her neck and tried to lift it off her head.

 

"It’s impressive you were able to remove the third level sealing tag and heal him. I guess the credit of saying you are a B-Class mage isn't quite overrated after all." The voice somehow was now closer to her. She tried to wriggle and moved her entire body but failed as the necklace on her neck burned intensely the more she moved.

 

She gasped as she felt his hand grasp her throat, leaving her with little air to breathe. His palms were pressed tightly against her neck and she could feel her esophagus closing. He lifted her from her kneeling position to stand. She was screaming silently, gasping for breath. She futilely tried to pry his fingers away but failed miserably. She dug her fingernails into his wrists, trying to dislodge him. Small ragged gasps were escaping her throat. She tried to reach his face or anything she can reach onto. She saw his eyes turn to her snowflaked arms. He stared at her arm and studied the glowing crystal flakes on it. His eyes slightly widened after realizing something. His eyebrows furrowed and looked back at her face.

 

"You're... the last of them," he said almost inaudibly. He stared at her, blue eyes to brown ones. "Taniyama," he said.

 

Noll let go of her neck, dropping her to the ground. Mai coughed as she tried to inhale air. She clutched her neck and glared at him.

 

"Kneel," said again the man in front of her.

 

"Where is he?!" Mai yelled and was once again forced to her knees, grunting as her knees hit the ground.

 

Noll looked at his left side, causing Mai to look in the same direction. An unconscious Yasuhara was leaning on the fountain. Mai's eyes widened and whimpered at the sight of Yasuhara's pale form. Blood was still trickling from his chest but not as worse as it was earlier.

 

"He's dead, there's nothing you can do," Noll said bluntly.

 

Tears started to trickle down her cheek. She gritted her teeth as her blood started to boil.

 

"This can't be real. You can't die, Yasuhara!" She screeched and tried to fight the force that was causing her to kneel. She was forcing every muscle in her body to stand but keeps falling back on her knees. She didn't have to use her wand to cast some of her spells so she focused and prepared a spell to attack him.

 

_I need to get near Yasuhara_ , After releasing energy to hit Noll, she once again felt a pang of pain hit her. Noll easily dodged all the ice glass thrown at him. If Noll was surprised, his face did not show it. _How was she able to cast an elemental spell?_ Noll could sense a strong energy coming from the girl in front of him. He didn’t want to admit it to himself, but it did give a sudden chill that went down his spine. And Noll was definitely not one to fear or falter to anyone. _What is this energy? Where is it coming from?_ Noll thought to himself, brows furrowed.

 

Mai closed her eyes and concentrated. She felt a mix of overwhelming emotion swirl inside her, anger for not being able to have control over things, and pain of possibly being late, losing another friend. Why does she have to see and endure it all the time? Blue energy was starting to surround her, making her glow. She was able to break the force from her kneeling state and quickly made a move to attack Noll. He blocked both the dual blades that she tried to slash on him. He saw her smirk and back out immediately. He tried to raise his hand but realized he couldn't move with all the glass crystals holding him from behind. He grunted and felt the pressure on his arm. The glass was absorbing him, sucking him into it.

 

Mai made her way to Yasuhara. She checked his vital signs and heard no heartbeat. "Shit." Mai laid him flat on the ground. She released another wave of her healing energy. The bleeding stopped. Now, she performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation by just giving compressions to his chest. She did not even know how long it has been that his heart stopped beating, but she has to try. His temperature hasn't dropped completely so there's still hope. She had to grab any resort she has. She exerted a few pumps and checked if there was any sign of breathing. It didn't work. "Yasuhara, you can't die!" Mai was now trembling from both fear and pain of losing her friend. Her breath became ragged.

 

_Mai, calm down. Calm down. Nothing good happens when you panic. Think. You can do this_. She decided she was going to finally use what she has been training herself for all these years. She had to cast a reviving spell on him. This is the first time she's going to use it as she hasn't mastered their clan's specialty yet even with all the years of training and missions. She felt nervous, sweat was trickling down her chin. She has to do this. She can't let doubt consume her. She doesn't have any choice. She has to focus, she has to do this right. She can't afford to commit any mistake. She placed both her palms on his chest and closed her eyes.

 

Mai could hear the sound of chirping birds. _Yakisoba_ she thought. The air smelt like Yakisoba. She opened her eyes and saw a big red Torri in front of her. She's currently standing in front of Yasuhara's life gate. She always thought of Yasuhara to be a happy and cheerful type of a person so it didn't really surprise her when she felt the warm and light feeling at his entrance gate.

 

Mai walked and entered Yasuhara's world.

 

...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Additional Notes:
> 
> Kekkai or box-shaped barriers - I honestly don't know how to describe this when I wrote the chapter. But if you're familiar with the anime "Kekkaishi", yes, it is the same kekkai they cast. It can either be used as a defense or offense. They have a wide variety of uses, in and out of combat. Some even explode if I can remember correctly. But in this fanfic, yes, it does explode too, but is likely performed only by the A-Class and S-Class group since that's considered a higher type of magick. A kekkai is typically created by three commands: Hoi, which designates a target; Joso, which determines the kekkai's location, and Ketsu, which activates the kekkai. From there, a kekkai can be collapsed with Metsu, destroying it and its contents. A kekkai can also be dispelled harmlessly, either through Kai, where the user dispels their own kekkai, or sekkai, which is only used to dispel another kekkai. Kekkai have either coordinate or conditional settings. Coordinate kekkai is anchored to one spot and cannot be moved, while conditional kekkai can be moved. (Disclaimer: I don't own the terms used for command to cast the kekkai spell. It is solely from the anime “Kekkaishi”. Try watching Kekkaishi's first opening song on youtube so you can see the kekkai I'm trying to describe here. Ehehe)
> 
> Torii - is a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of or within a Shinto shrine, where it symbolically marks the transition from the mundane to the sacred world.
> 
> ...  
> I posted some fan art photos regarding Lightning Narcissist on my tumblr account. Go check it if you have time. Hehe. My username is also loveladytime, the same name I have here on AO3.
> 
> Thank you for reading!  
> Love, Lady Time.


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